Guys,
Since you are the ones who really have your thumbs on the pulse of the J-body market, I kinda want to see what you think about a car I found. Please help.
I have found a black/black 97 Cavalier convertible with 111k miles, 2.2L, and auto trans, and after market aluminum rims for $2,100.
The seller seems to be a pretty nice mid-eastern guy that actually doesn't know that much about the car because he has only owned it for a short time. He said he bought it to have on hand when he had an aunt come visit for an extended stay. She has now gone back and he no longer needs the car. It started right up, went into R and D without clunks, brakes seem right, no CEL lights, and the top and back windows went right down.
The small issues that it has are that the power windows did't work right, and he said that while the odometer and all the gauges work fine, the speedometer does not and while the clock works on the radio, the radio will not play - but never has and he mentioned it may not be the original radio and isn't working from the factory theft system.
My take about the windows is that I didn't really hear the switches clicking when I pushed them - and even if it isn't the switch, the motors seem reasonably priced on Ebay. I agree that the radio may not be the original because the dash looks to have a crack where somebody who didn't know it was screwed down tried to "pop" it loose - and the speedo issue may either be hooked to the radio issue via the speed control volume wire or be the more commonly diagnosed VSS at the trans. (I learned those on here)
My pitch to him to come down to the 21 was that I don't know much about electricity and my wife wouldn't really appreciate me spending over two thousand dollars on a convertible, or any other kind of car, that A) has no radio - B) has windows that don't go down - and C) has no speedometer.
I plan to go back tomorrow afternoon and give it a better look in the daylight, but having already driven past it a bunch of times with it being black - I don't expect to find any bodywork surprises and my only hangups are the ones that could either be SERIOUS or all be solved for under $100.
What do you guys think about the price of the vehicle for what it is? Please also let me know if I'm overly optimistic about the known problems being easily solved.
As pathetic as it is to admit this, I'd also be willing to be that there are many people that wouldn't buy it at any price from him due to his ethnicity. That just sucks.
Thanks in advance for your patience and input guys. I'm not any kind of big baller and I will be mildly strapped until I can sell my current daily driver - so I kinda wnat to get this one right.
John
That was a looooong post.
I'd say go for it if you want. You can always replace the radio and windows without too much of a problem.
well i'll tell you right now, get the car check first. take it to a mechanic and have them check the vss. the vss is probably why the speedo doesnt work. when they check the vss, if its covered in little metal shavings then i wouldnt buy the car. the shavings are coming from the trans and means that the trans wil go within' a month or two
No sale here. Too many "little things" for it not to all add up.
Thanks anyways.
Why would a car that has 111K miles be over $2000 anyways? The guy sounds like he is trying to mark up the price because of the aftermarket rims cause the car isn't worth much regardless because of the year, mileage and problems anyways. Avoid at all costs, lol
Probably because it was a convertible. Most drop tops I found were going for way more than 2.
No kidding?? Seems like a hell of a jump just cause of a nice top, lol
Everything topless costs more.
Yup, I paid $8200 for my '00 drop top while my brother paid $6,000 for his '02 hardtop w/only 15,000 miles difference.
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i'd start with a carfax and a GM certified mechanic...then go from there.
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Exodus 259 wrote:Why would a car that has 111K miles be over $2000 anyways? The guy sounds like he is trying to mark up the price because of the aftermarket rims cause the car isn't worth much regardless because of the year, mileage and problems anyways. Avoid at all costs, lol
go check out kbb.com for prices. last time i checked (back in november) my 1999 Cavi with the 2200 and 3 speed auto with almost 150k was still worth just over $3000 on there.
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sounds like a good deal to me imo
